Alaska Scores Ace Victory Over Purefoods Star Hotshots
By Lawrence Andrew Fernandez
Down by as many as 18 points, the Alaska Aces fought hard to score a 97-91 come-from-behind victory against the Purefoods Star Hotshots in Game 1 of their best-of-five semifinal series for the PBA Governors Cup title.
After playing catch-up, the Aces finally seized the lead at 68-67 with 21 seconds left in the third quarter. The go-ahead sequence was courtesy of Vic Manuel’s three-point play off a foul by Joe Devance. Before seizing the lead, the Aces were making an uphill climb all game. The Hotshots shot 53 percent from the field for the first half with James Yap scoring ten points including two three-point baskets. At halftime, Purefoods had a 17-point lead, 51-34.
But once intermission ended, Alaska played an ace of a game thanks to the heroics of import Romeo Travis, Jayvee Casio, and Chris Banchero. The Aces pulled away for good with a seven-point spurt by Banchero and Dondon Hontiveros to bring the tally at 77-70, Alaska. From then, the team held on to the lead en-route to a 1-0 series lead.
Travis led all scorers with 28 points and added 10 boards. Meanwhile, Casio added 18 points while Banchero gave in ten with five rebounds and three assists.
Just like before, there was an issue about the fact that Coach Tim Cone, now with Purefoods, used to play the same capacity with Alaska, a team that he led to multiple championships including a Grand Slam in 1996. Now, he will try to adjust his strategy and win three of the next games to have a shot at the title.
The winner of this series will proceed to the PBA Governors Cup Final where they will face the winner of the other semifinal series between the Rain or Shine Elastopainters and the San Miguel Beermen.
